


The Rules to Dating Strangers

by tams



Category: Dylan O'Brien - Fandom, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Completed, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-01-23 21:17:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1579835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tams/pseuds/tams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three rules:<br/>1) no last names<br/>2) no pictures<br/>3) no lying<br/>The third rule was the hardest for Dylan to keep. There were just some things he couldn't tell her. It was selfish of him, but she was like his little personal, secret piece of happiness. He couldn't tell her because he didn't want her to leave which is something she might do if he told her. He didn't want to drive her away. He wanted to hold her tighter than humanly possible. Pour all of his love into her, see her smile, make her laugh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

She jostled her knees nervously, awaiting a reply. It was cold, and going on dark in New York City. The sky an ominous grey, threatening to cover the city in snow at any moment. She anxiously checked her phone again. She had no money with her, so buying a ticket for the train was out of the question. So was catching a cab. She had turned to the ultimate last resort: texting her dreaded step-mother to come and pick her up. It was almost like admitting defeat. Her mum had told her that she didn’t have to go and spend the Christmas holidays with her dad, but being an almost 18 year old, the desire to stretch her horizons and see the world was strong, so was the want to gain independence and also give her mum some time to herself and try to blossom a romance with some man she met where ever.

The whole getting lost in New York part of her plan hadn’t really turned out the way she had hoped. She wanted to show both her step mom and her dad that she really was capable of looking after herself in the big city. It was stupid. Now she was cold and her feet were soggy and she was tired. All the ‘exploring’ had been fun for the first few hours, but then she got hungry and apparently she had worn the wrong shoes – her feet had been rubbed in way she hadn’t known were possible. With the sky growing darker by the minute, she sat on a bench and looked around her once more, the neon glow of the signs, the pools of yellow light from the street lamps. The ever-busy streets filled with cars and people, and the smell of engine exhaust. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Her observing was interrupted by her phone finally buzzing. She really didn’t want to admit defeat, but she wanted to become a street urchin even less.

Her phones lock screen showed a text from an unknown number. She thought it strange but opened the message anyway.

_Hi, I think you’ve texted the wrong number, sorry I can’t pick you up though. Good luck and I hope you get home safely xx_

She scanned over the message twice, making sure she had actually read what it said properly, before her cheeks became warm in embarrassment even though whoever sent the message more than likely couldn’t see her.

She checked the number she had punched in with numb fingers, and quickly realised that a couple of digits had been incorrectly entered. She texted her step –mom, double checking the number this time before pressing send, and then for reasons unknown to her, she went back to the message from the stranger. It intrigued her. Most people would’ve just said sorry, wrong number, if they even replied at all, but this person, whoever they were, wished her well on her travels home. It was such a small thing but it made her feel really special. She felt compelled to send something back thanking them. So she did. It sounded awkward but she hit send anyway.

She sat waiting on the bench for a while longer. No reply from her wrong number, but a car pulled up on the side of the road and a man in a uniform that almost looked like a toy soldier got out and walked around the car, stopping just in front of her. “Miss Adelaide?” he asked expectantly. She nodded stepping up across the pavement to the waiting open door of the car. Of course her step mother wouldn’t actually come and pick her up herself. How could she have possibly thought that? She quite forcefully shoved her phone into her small shoulder bag, and dug around for the old iPod which seemed to be hiding from her. Eventually she found it and, untangling the head phones and playing her relaxing music playlist so she could put herself in a calm mood before she got to her dads house and had to deal with a face off with her step mother. She wasn't looking forward to getting out of that car to say the least.


	2. II

Planes were one of the worst things ever invented, Adelaide decided. First off they felt like a freaking death trap when they hit so mild turbulence- well the pilot had said it was mild- and then, once you're up in the air, there ain't no coming down until you reach your destination or you crash and burn and die a horrible death falling from the sky. The worst part about that though, is the destination is usually hours away, so you get extra time to think about your impending doom.

Luckily for Adelaide, this time she fell asleep moments after take-off, and didn't wake up until the plane landed in a rather dreary looking New York. She awkwardly stretched, feeling aches in places she didn't think should, and then looking at the seat she had slumbered in for the past 7 hours didn't question it further.

She was full of conflicting emotions as she stepped off the plane. Three years had passed since she'd last been in New York. She wasn't particularly impressed by the idea of "hanging out" with her step mother. She was happy to see her dad, and also happy about the fact that it was the holidays and for once she only had one paper to do over her break which was basically unheard of. And then, she was nervous. So nervous that the feelings of butterflies in her stomach hadn't gone away since they appeared a month ago. It had been arranged after years of phone calls and text messages that she and her mystery boy otherwise known as Dylan were going to meet. She felt slightly concerned for her safety. Whomever she was going to meet was definitely a male, and they sounded young over the phone, but it could always be some sick creep preying on girls who accidentally text him. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, even though it lingered, as she thought of the time she had laid out ground rules.

A few days after they started talking, and it seemed like a habit that was going to keep up she had set the rules.

No last names.

No pictures.

No lying.

The last rule had seemed an odd request, but it still stood all the same. They were completely truthful with each other, and if they didn’t actually know who the other was, then how could anything bad come from their little secrets? But her rules had stood, never once had she broken them, though maybe once or twice had she withheld the truth a little bit. But that wasn’t lying. Not really. And in any case, it wasn’t like what she had held back was life changing; it was just to protect herself.

She picked up her suitcase from the carousel, the ribbons on the side looking rather ratty these days from so much use. She wheeled it out to the taxi stand, her dad was busy working and she didn’t want to spend more time than she had to with her step mom than she had too, if it were that she would even pick Adelaide up. She waited in line, not for too long, but long enough to start to get bored, causing her mind to wander back to Dylan. 

After she had sent that message saying thank you, he had actually replied again. She doesn’t remember exactly what he said now, but she sent another text message back, and so did he. They just kept sending message. And while it was strange to start off with and neither of them actually really knew why they were doing it, just that they were, it didn’t take long for it to be a totally normal thing for both of them. Though mind you the start of any friend ship is awkward, whether it’s over messages or via mouth, it’s always awkward. In the three years that they had been talking, there hadn’t been a single time when they had run out of conversation topics, and for those three years there was hardly a day when they hadn’t talked. It was a pretty great effort really.

As she was standing in the line and her mind wandered back to Dylan, Adelaide wondered- not for the first time- what Dylan was like in person. She knew that people could be completely different over text messages compared to talking to them face to face. Even talking to them on the phone didn’t give away things like expression and body language. She wondered what he looked like, the way his eyes sparkled and how his smile completely transformed his face. For three years she had been imagining Dylan from his voice and the persona he put out. She knew he had brown hair and green-y brown eyes, but that was only what he had told her, just like she had told him of her blonde hair and blue eyes. She wanted to put a face to the voice she had gotten to know as Dylan after all this time.

Finally she had a cab to get into and momentarily her mind was focused on opening the door and getting in, telling the driver the address, before Dylan was back at the front of her mind. She couldn’t describe her feelings towards him, she just hoped that when they met on New Year’s Eve that everything would go fine. It had to go fine. Somewhere along the line she had gotten the idea that it was fate or destiny or some other divine force that got them talking. Why else would two completely random strangers keep talking to each other? Especially when it was an accident that started them talking in the first place.

The cab pulled up to her dads place faster than she would’ve like, but at least it was a distraction from thinking about Dylan. Who she should really tell that she had arrived safely. She decided to do it after she ‘caught up’ with this side of the family. That way she could actually talk to him and rant about how much she disliked her step mom. With a deep breath she opened the front door and rolled her luggage inside behind her.


	3. III

The big day had come almost too fast for her. Christmas was ok; it was nice to see her grandparents, and her cousins. Well some of them. The whole step family wasn’t that cool and she’d never really gotten along that well with them.  Soon enough after the rush of Christmas and people she didn’t really know visiting her, it was New Year’s Eve. Adelaide still felt nervous about meeting someone she’d never seen before,   actually she was quite scared and several times thought about backing out and even got to the point where she wrote a message to send him saying that she just couldn’t do it. But then curiosity won out. She wanted to meet the person behind the screen whom she felt she knew quite well by now. She had wondered if he had actually stuck to the rules or if he had broken them. 

Once again, Adelaide found herself jiggling her knees nervously whilst sitting on a bench. This time she was much warmer though, and sitting in central park. She was just outside the zoo, which Dylan had suggested they go to. She thought it was a very sensible option; there would be people around and if he wasn’t really who he said he was, he would have a difficult time kidnapping her- she hoped. She also hadn’t been to the zoo since she was 8 when her parents first split up and her dad moved to New York. Maybe now she could associate a nicer memory with the place. 

She wondered idly how Dylan was going to recognise her, or how she was going to recognise him. Maybe they hadn’t thought this out as well as she had originally thought. She decided to wait it out a little longer; it was only just their meet up time now. She leaned back, her arms wrapped around her torso to keep some of her warmth in. She looked around her, at the people milling around the zoo entrance. There were quite a few little kids jumping up and down excitedly with their parents. There was even a group of teenagers lining up to buy tickets. Adelaide continued, making up a story for the background of everyone there. Her eyes danced across a young man who was standing near a row of bushes across from her. His hands were busy with a phone and she couldn’t quite decide what his story was. The scarf wrapped around his neck and covering his chin, the sunglasses, and the beanie he was wearing made it hard for Adelaide to see his face, and maybe that’s why she couldn’t place a story to him. He looked nervous, looking around at every person who walked past, his phone passing between one hand and the other, and the slight movement of his cheek indicated to Adelaide that he was biting the inside of his mouth; all traits of an anxious body.

She was drawn out of her staring when her phone went off. It was Dylan. _Hey are you at the zoo yet?_ She smiled to herself proud that she wasn’t the impatient one for once. She noticed that the guy standing near the bushes had put his phone away. She couldn’t tell what the colour of his eyes were through his sunnies, and even if he wasn’t wearing them the distance between them was probably too far to discern if they were brown. His hair was brown though, peaking up in places from under his beanie. She realised that there were loads of people with brown hair in the world, and that was reflected in the small crowd of people waiting outside the zoo, however, there weren’t many people who were similar in age to her, with brown hair and looking like they were waiting for someone. In fact there was only one.

Adelaide took the chance, and not bothering to reply to Dylan’s text, she stepped towards the guy standing near the bushes with feet that had almost fallen asleep.

“Dylan?” she asked, praying to god that she hadn’t just embarrassed herself. His head flicked around to face her when she said his name, and stared at her. He was a bit taller than her, but not massively Adelaide noted.

“Adelaide?” he replied to her. His voice was smooth and it kinda instantly calmed her nerves. Dylan had not turned out to a total creep yet, he was in fact a young male. However she wasn’t totally calmed of the thoughts about getting raped, but they were substantially lessened.

“Yea,” she said nodding her head. Dylan smiled and stepped forward to close the gap between them and wrapped her in a hug. Adelaide didn’t quite know what to do, she was a pretty shy person, and definitely awkward in social situations she wasn’t used to, like right now. She decided to just let go and go with it. She wrapped her arms around his body and her head managed to find a spot against his shoulder almost instantly. To someone in the crowd looking at them, they looked like a couple in love. She breathed in deeply, he was warm and smelt extremely comforting- a mix between lavender soap and something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. He pulled away, taking a step back and rubbing his neck.

“Sorry,” he said apologising sheepishly. “It’s just really nice to finally meet you.” He was smiling again and he took off his sunglasses, finally allowing Adelaide to see his eyes. They were the prettiest colour brown she’d ever seen, and momentarily she was distracted trying to work out the exact colour. They were golden, but darker. It was almost like there were flecks of stars caught in his eyes. Too late she realised that she was staring really deeply into his eyes. He looked back at her quizzically, asking, “What are you staring at?” she felt a blush rush to her cheeks and she hoped he didn’t notice, her cheeks were probably quite pink already from the cold.

“Nothing,” she said way too fast, before deciding that she should just tell him, it was their rules anyway right? No lying. “It’s just- your eyes. They’re not what I was expecting. They’re really beautiful.” She stumbled over her words, the nerves still having an effect on her. She took a deep breath and expelled it with her eyes closed. And when she opened them she saw Dylan smiling back at her, his whole face lit up. She almost fell over from how happy he looked. “Thanks, do you wanna go and explore the zoo now?”

Adelaide smiled at him too. “Yes, that would be nice,” she said, already turning on her heel to walk towards the entrance. “Very nice indeed.”

 


	4. IV

Adelaide was very pleasantly surprised by Dylan offering to pay for ticket. It wasn’t a date, but he was just such a gentleman. She wished more guys were like him. She took a bit to cave to his offer, and she only agreed on the basis that she could buy him a coffee or something later.

As they walked into the zoo, a lady handed Dylan a map, and- very uncoordinatedly- he opened it, asking where Adelaide would like to go first, holding the map up for her to take a look. There were many exhibits that she would like to see, like the polar bears and the sea lions and who could forget the monkeys, but the red pandas were where she’d absolutely love to go and hang out.

“The pandas!” she said, pointing it out on the map for Dylan. She smiled at him, and he folded the map back up, putting it in his pocket and saying, “This way to the pandas,” before he grabbed a hold of her hand and dragged her along behind him. She was amazed at how natural contact with Dylan was. First the hug, then in the line to buy tickets their arms were continuously brushing against each other, and now, his grip on her hand felt just as familiar as holding her mums hand. She was amazed at how everything felt so natural with Dylan. Aside from the two seconds of awkwardness at the beginning, everything had just felt so normal and Adelaide just couldn’t wrap her head around it in the slightest. The idea that it was fate flashed across her mind, and honestly it probably was. How often do two people get along this well straight up without being soul mates?

The sun had appeared from behind a cloud when they made it to the red panda enclosure, and one of the younger pandas was stretching out, soaking up the sunshine while it was there.

“Ohmigosh! Look at it Dylan it’s so cute!” Adelaide said, unleashing her inner 5 year old. Dylan gave her a look that said ‘what am I doing here with you, you’re crazy’ and Adelaide pouted at him. He quickly smiled back at her and she gave him a shove, almost knocking him over. It was the sort of banter people who had been friends for years would do, not people who had just met. Though maybe they had just met in person for the first time, but they knew almost everything about each other, so that might just be why they were so comfortable around each other.

They wandered around the zoo for the rest of the morning, catching the sea lion show before finding themselves a seat outside the snow monkeys’ enclosure. Adelaide thought they looked ridiculous with their fur all wet except on their face. It was then that Adelaide’s stomach growled loud enough for Dylan to hear. He looked down at her tummy before raising an eyebrow at her. “I'm hungry ok,” she defended.

“Come on, I know a great hot dog stand nearby,” Dylan said, outstretching his hand to pull her up. He led her through central park, the sounds of her tummy a soundtrack to their stroll, though it ended up being funny rather than embarrassing, which Adelaide was extremely glad for. Somewhere between the hot dog stand and the zoo, two teenage girls came up to them very confidently. “Can we get our picture taken with you?” one of them asked. Adelaide looked over to Dylan, confusion plain as day on her face, and Dylan’s face noticeably paled.

“Uh, yea, sure,” he said awkwardly. Adelaide noticed that his voice had changed too, like it was laced with sadness or regret. She didn’t understand what was going on. Then one of the girls asked her to take the photo for them, and not knowing what else to do she accepted the camera and took a couple of photos of the two girls and Dylan. She stared at Dylan, posing for the photo, his arms around the two girls and a smile on his face that didn’t reach all the way to his eyes like it had earlier.

Adelaide waited until the two girls had very politely thanked both her and Dylan and they had gotten their hotdogs before she asked what it was all about. “Can we just wait a minute, enjoy the hot dog first?” Dylan asked hopefully. He had been stupid to not tell her in the first place, and even stupider again to think that he could get away with not having to tell her who he really was. There was no way it would be the same after he told her. He was going to lose her, and he knew it, that’s why he wanted to enjoy his last few minutes with her not knowing. Adelaide patiently and silently ate away at her hot dog; Dylan had been right, these were great hot dogs. She had a feeling that Dylan wasn’t telling her something, that bad feeling in the bottom of her gut, she knew bad news was coming. It was Dylan’s face that stopped her very angrily telling him to tell her straight away, there was something on it that hadn’t gone away since the two girls stopped them, and hadn’t appeared until then.

Finally, Dylan looked over at her, and she encouragingly nodded her head at him, telling him to start talking. “My last name is O’Brien,” he started. This wasn’t somewhere he wanted to be. “Dylan O’Brien. Look me up on the internet.” He handed her his phone, and she did as he said, feeling a slight sense of recognition at the name. She quickly typed his name into google, and instantly she had millions of hits. She glanced up at him and he was biting his finger nails, obviously anxious for her reaction. She clicked on the first hit- IMDb- and there was a full biography of Dylan, complete with pictures to further cement the truth that he was telling her. He was famous.

She angrily shoved the phone back at him, tears starting to prick at the back of her eyes and her cheeks getting hot. “You lied to me.” It was said quietly, but with enough power behind it that Dylan was scared. Dylan didn’t know what to say, she was right after all, he had lied to her. He had been selfish keeping that to himself, his career was a big part of who he was, and he had kept that from her because she was so refreshing for him, she couldn’t judge him on the things he did in the public eye, she didn’t have a clouded opinion of him, and for Dylan, that was something that was hard to find these days.

Adelaide stood up, throwing her bag over her shoulder as she walked away. Dylan was quick to follow. He grabbed her shoulder, making her stop. She turned to face him and before he could even start to apologise, she pushed his hand off her and said, “Don’t touch me. Dylan, don’t follow me, don’t talk to me, don’t call me, don’t even text me. I never want to see you again.” Dylan felt his arm drop and he wanted to disappear down a crack in the concrete but instead he was left staring dumbly after Adelaide, who was walking extremely fast across the park, away from him.


	5. V

As soon as she knew Dylan wasn't following her, and he was out of sight, Adelaide all but collapsed on the pavement. The tears couldn't be held back any longer and sobs violently shook her body. How could she have trusted some random she accidentally texted? Why would she? How could she be so stupid? She was angry at Dylan, but she was just as-if not more- angry at herself. Her whole body shut down, and her mind went a hundred miles per hour trying to answer the questions that riddled her mind.

She managed to snap out of it momentarily because her teeth were chattering so hard that she couldn't hear anything else. She pulled herself up and waved down a taxi, brushing off the slight concern of the driver. She had stopped crying somewhere between getting in the taxi and getting to her dads house. And she managed to keep it together as she entered the house and walked past her step mom and dad, all the way to her room. It wasn't until she heard her phone go off that she started crying again. Part of her wanted it to be Dylan, even if it was just so she could scream at him, she was still really mad at him through all the tears. But it wasn't Dylan; it was her cousin asking if she was ready for the party they were going to. Dylan's unread message popped up on the screen too, which made her feel really sad. Just this morning she had been blissfully unaware and everything had been amazing. And then Dylan had gone and ruined it. Yea, she was still mad at him for that. And for lying. And even a little bit for being famous.

She sent a message back to her cousin saying she wasn't feeling good and didn’t know if she was up for going out before crawling under her covers and pulling the pillow against her chest and holding onto it so tightly that had it been breathing, it would have suffocated. She cried really hard for quite some time, no one else in the house noticed though. Adelaide felt like a baby crying so much over a boy, she had only met him today after all. She eventually calmed down just enough to be able to form coherent thoughts, and then came the what ifs. Those were horrible. What if he had of told me earlier? What if I had recognised him from the start? What if I hadn’t made up those stupid rules? Slowly but surely they changed from past to future, and she started thinking about what could have happened. What if he wasn’t recognised by those fans and didn’t have to tell me? She wondered how her night would have gone. Maybe she would have invited him to go out with her and her cousin, maybe she would have had a kiss on New Year’s for the first time ever, maybe something could have blossomed between the two. So many maybes that would never become possibilities.

Adelaide quickly realised that thinking about what might have been actually hurt more than what was, and so she stopped thinking about it and decided to take a nap. Naps always make things better; at least she thinks they do.

Adelaide was awoken a few hours later, and not too surprisingly felt like crap. Her cousin Sarah stood above her, an arm placed lightly on Adelaide’s shoulder. “Hey,” she said softly when Adelaide looked at her. Adelaide’s throat was scratchy from sobbing so much, but she managed a soft “Hey,” in return. Sarah could tell way too easily that Adelaide had been crying, her nose was still red, her eyes were starting to puff up and were blood shot, and her little sniffles made it all too obvious.

“What’s up?” Sarah asked as she scooted under the blankets to comfort Adelaide. Adelaide sighed, not really wanting to have to think about it but also knowing that Sarah did. So she started with, “well, you know Dylan?” glancing over Sarah before returning her gaze to the blanket she was picking invisible fluff from. Sarah nodded at her, and Adelaide continued. “well he is a lying bastard and I never want to see him again or talk to him and I hate him so much I mean how could he lie to me like that who even does that I hate him.” Her throat was starting to constrict by the end of the sentence but there were no tears in her eyes. Maybe she had cried all the tears to last a life time.

Adelaide went on to explain what exactly Dylan had done, and for a second she regretted deciding to tell Sarah that Dylan was in fact Dylan O’Brien, mainly because Sarah had a little freak out about her ‘favourite cousin getting to meet a hot celebrity’. Adelaide brought her back by saying that she hadn’t even heard of him before today. 

“I know that’s it’s a fresh wound and all, but have you thought about it from his point of view? I mean yes, he is a dick for not telling you he was famous and letting you find out that way, but maybe there was a good reason behind him not telling you?” Sarah advised. Adelaide stared blank at her before replying. “Like what?” Adelaide’s tone was unimpressed because this idea wasn’t entertaining her. Though now that it was out there, she did put actual thought to why he hadn’t told her. 

However, she didn’t get long to ponder her thoughts because Sarah decided that she was taking Adelaide out tonight and they were going to party hard, and Adelaide would forget all about Dylan and how miserable she was because she would be so drunk she wouldn’t be able to remember her own name let alone some guy she met for the first time that day.

“Come on, I’m so doing your make up and picking your outfit and your hair. You are gonna look hot,” Sarah declared. And once Sarah makes her mind up, there isn’t much anyone can do about it. Sarah flicked through the items Adelaide had hung up in the wardrobe of the room, telling her to go and take a hot shower. Then when she was done, Sarah made Adelaide sit on the edge of the bathtub while she did her hair and makeup, getting ready herself. Adelaide called a cab upon Sarah’s request and before she knew it, Adelaide was waltzing down the stairs ready to throw herself at some guy and forget the horrible afternoon she’d had. 


	6. VI

New Year’s Day and Adelaide’s head throbbed like a bitch. Too much to drink last night; well too much alcohol, certainly not enough water. She opened her eyes to a familiar bedroom. Thank god she hadn’t gone home with some stranger. She couldn’t remember most of the night, but she had bits and pieces, one of them being a kiss with some stranger at midnight, another being dancing much too suggestively with a whole group of people.

She rolled over to face the alarm clock on the stand, and as she did she felt pressure build up behind her eyes and nausea sweep over her. She willed her legs to work as she rolled further out of the bed and towards to bathroom. Never again, she swore and the contents of her stomach found a new home in the toilet bowl. She groaned, feeling significantly better after that, but the taste in her mouth was anything but pleasant, and her head was still throbbing. She brushed her teeth thoroughly, and then headed down stairs, after an aspirin and a glass. She could smell someone cooking as she attempted to make it down the staircase without stumbling.

Turned out Sarah was nice enough, and feeling well enough to make her breakfast. French toast sat in a pile on a plate, waiting for bacon which looked deliciously greasy to finish cooking. At the sound of her footsteps entering the kitchen, Sarah placed a glass of water with two aspirin tablets on the counter closest to Adelaide.

“Thanks,” Adelaide managed. Her throat felt raw too, and really all she wanted to do was go and lie down again. But she took the tablets and drank the water and halfway watched Sarah buzz around the kitchen, seemingly fine after the night they’d had. Adelaide didn’t understand how, but she wasn’t going to protest someone making her breakfast, that much was for sure. 

“So what actually happened last night?” Adelaide asked as Sarah put a plate down in front of her. Sarah smiled back at her before answering.

“Nothing too bad, you just got really drunk and threw up on the side of the street on our way home. Oh, and you were dancing with this really cute guy. If you know what I mean.” A laugh filled Sarah’s voice towards the end of the sentence. Adelaide almost wished she hadn’t asked, mostly cause now she felt like dying from embarrassment at the thought of “dancing” with some random and not knowing his name or evening remembering doing it. Her cheeks blushed and she looked into her food, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Seriously Adelaide, I'm just kidding you really did only dance with a couple of people, I don’t think you even found someone to kiss at midnight. You’re so lame.” Adelaide knew Sarah was joking about her being lame, and she playfully hit her cousin across the table.

“Hey!” Sarah shrieked, snickering. Adelaide rolled her eyes at Sarah, adding a “you deserved it” and poking her tongue out. The food was obviously making her feel better.

She finished her breakfast and then declared she was going back to bed. She definitely wasn’t completely sober yet, and he bed was just so comfy.

She dreamt of Dylan. Which was inconsiderate of her subconscious. She had been avoiding thinking about him while she was awake-and had managed to do so for several hours- and now he was invading her dreams. She dreamed about going to the movies with him, she had no idea what cinema it was, or even what movie they were seeing, but Dylan was holding her hand as they walked in, and after the movie finished, Adelaide still wouldn’t have been able to tell you what movie they saw, because they spent the whole time making out in the back of the theatre. Dream Adelaide had a great time at the movies, however when she woke up, she was confused as ever. It hadn’t been the only dream she’d had, but it had been the most memorable.

She sat up in her bed, and stared at the wall like it might have the answers to her questions. Why was she dreaming about Dylan like that? It didn’t have anything to do with last night did it? She hated Dylan, didn’t she? She groaned out loud, and threw the covers off her, heading for a shower. She still had makeup smudged on her face, and the shower was always a great place to think, she had found.

Dylan was still the top of her mind when she went downstairs that night, though she promised herself that after that evening, she wouldn’t think about him until she was back home in London. That way she’d be less tempted to visit him and actually hear him out. She just had this feeling like she knew she would cave as soon as he opened his mouth. It was pretty incredible that she hadn’t already texted or called him, even though she really wasn’t happy with him. Three years of being completely honest with someone is hard to forget. It didn’t help that she sucked at holding grudges.

She promised herself that she would text him when she got home, and not one minute before. Not until she was too far away. She didn’t even have a week to go. She could totally do it.


	7. VII

 

Adelaide stood at the check in counter with her bags. To say she was ready to go home was an understatement. If she had of had to stay in New York an hour longer, she would’ve swam home to England. The lady behind her smiled as she handed Adelaide her tickets, and the gesture pulled Adelaide out of her egotistic moment. Life wasn’t all about her. Her life, however, was. And she didn’t want to be in New York anymore. She wanted to be home, with her mum and her cat and some proper tea so she could cry and get over this business with Dylan.

The thought of being home and away from this place made her feel so relieved. She knew life would go on. In fact, for one of the first times in her life, she actually wanted it to. She was rather glad that Dylan hadn’t called or texted her though. She probably would’ve caved much sooner than she wanted to. And she never wanted to cave. Not in this situation.

If Dylan had called her, or sent her a single text message, everything would’ve been completely different. She didn’t want to forgive him because it had hurt a hell of a lot. Maybe she was over reacting, but everyone has different values right? Adelaide saw him not telling her he was famous as a lie, and she felt like she didn’t know him. However, thinking on it again, Adelaide realised she probably knew him better than any of his fans and even some of his friends. They had talked about some really serious, deep stuff. But keeping his whole acting career from her was a deal breaker for Adelaide, so she would just have to look past it.

It was somewhat calming, watching planes land and take off. It wouldn’t be long now until her flight was called. Which she was both glad of and dreading. Watching the sunset over New York City and the constant dull roar of jet engines and murmurs of people waiting, it was easy for Adelaide to zone out, so when she thought she heard someone calling out to her, she wasn’t sure she was actually hearing it. She looked around her, but there was no one looking in her direction, or anyone she even recognised. She went back inside her head, once again waiting for her flight.

She just about jumped out of her skin and wet her pants when someone put their hands in front of her face. She paled when she realised who it was.

He would wait right until she was about to leave the country to try talking to her.

And he would most certainly get clearance to roam through an international airport while not actually travelling anywhere.

Curse words ran through her head as she tried to figure out how to go about this situation. She did not want to see Dylan. She wanted to see Dylan hurt. She wanted to slap Dylan. She wanted to go home. She wanted Dylan to apologise. She wanted Dylan.

Adelaide made her face a mask void of emotion, sorting through the inside and waiting for Dylan to make the first move. She carefully surveyed him; his hands and lip were trembling slightly, and his breathing was quite shallow. He’s nervous, she realised.

“Adelaide, I… I, I um… I” Dylan stumbled, his thoughts not collected.

“What?” Adelaide didn’t really mean for it to come out so harshly, but she really didn’t need this.  All she wanted was Dylan to not be in her picture. She did not want to talk or see him or even hear of him ever again. However this clearly wasn’t going to happen because he was standing right in front of her with trembling hands and floundering for the right words to say.

She looked at him impatiently, summing up her options. Or really, looking for ways out of the situation. “Look Dylan,” she started. Looking back down at his hands. She couldn’t bear to see his face when she undoubtedly crushed him. “I don’t care. I don’t want anything to do with you. I had thought I’d made that pretty clear. You keep secrets. Like about your whole life. Well, a very relevant part of your life and I'm not ready to forgive that yet alright? I just need to go and sort my life out and not get tangled up in whatever this might have been. So good bye Dylan.”

Adelaide lent down to pick up her bag and hide in the ladies room until her flight was called. But Dylan grabbed her arm, surprising her. “I know you’re lying,” he said blankly. His eyes were shiny, but he wasn’t really crying. “How?” she question, more surprised than ever.

“Because you have to be. I’ve been talking to you for years. Maybe I don’t know your tell, but I know you’re lying. You’re not that mean and blunt.” He started sniffling at the end. She couldn’t be telling the truth. She didn’t feel that way. No. this was the girl who he’d stayed up all night for, talking about everything. From favourite foods to break ups, and even on her worst days, she had never sounded like that to anyone.

“So what if I am?” she challenged. Somewhere deep inside of her, she wanted him to figure it out. She wanted him to figure her out.

He didn’t think. It wasn’t something he would do if he thought about it. He just went for it. He was still holding onto her arm, and he pulled her in toward him. She realised what was happening, but she didn’t stop it. Maybe he was going to try and work her out.

The kiss was gentle and soft and everything it needed to be. Adelaide let her eyes fall closed, and kept them that way until well after the kiss had finished. “Adelaide, please look at me,” Dylan said, hardly more than a whisper. She was cautious. Looking into his eyes was almost like drowning. She felt like she couldn’t breathe or catch onto anything that would keep her afloat.

“I'm so sorry. For everything that I’ve done to hurt you, and everything I may do. You are the best thing in my life. You keep me sane. You keep me happy. I would have broken down by now if you hadn’t of sent that message that night. Maybe it was accidental maybe it was fate, I don’t know. But I do know that from the first time I laid eyes upon you, I couldn’t think straight. And ever since then I’ve been so worried sick that I messed up what could’ve been the best thing in my life.” His forehead was resting against hers, and the tears that were occasionally dripping from his eyes were running down both their cheeks. “I don’t think I could live without you. At least not in a way that means anything.”

And then, in the worst timing possible, her flight was called. Her heart and head were a mess of emotions, so with a small smile and a nod, she picked up her bags and said “I need to go. Thank you, Dylan.” She turned on her heal and walked down to the boarding gate. Not looking back except for a glimpse at Dylan before she disappeared down the tunnel. He was still standing there, a mixture of shock and sadness colouring his features. For a moment she felt bad for the way she left, and she would certainly regret it later, but she was so amazed by what he had just said that she couldn’t get past it, not yet at least.

She couldn’t wait to get back home and talk to her mum or her best friend about it. Really she just couldn’t wait to curl up with her cat and sleep.


	8. VII

 

Adelaide stood at the check in counter with her bags. To say she was ready to go home was an understatement. If she had of had to stay in New York an hour longer, she would’ve swam home to England. The lady behind her smiled as she handed Adelaide her tickets, and the gesture pulled Adelaide out of her egotistic moment. Life wasn’t all about her. Her life, however, was. And she didn’t want to be in New York anymore. She wanted to be home, with her mum and her cat and some proper tea so she could cry and get over this business with Dylan.

The thought of being home and away from this place made her feel so relieved. She knew life would go on. In fact, for one of the first times in her life, she actually wanted it to. She was rather glad that Dylan hadn’t called or texted her though. She probably would’ve caved much sooner than she wanted to. And she never wanted to cave. Not in this situation.

If Dylan had called her, or sent her a single text message, everything would’ve been completely different. She didn’t want to forgive him because it had hurt a hell of a lot. Maybe she was over reacting, but everyone has different values right? Adelaide saw him not telling her he was famous as a lie, and she felt like she didn’t know him. However, thinking on it again, Adelaide realised she probably knew him better than any of his fans and even some of his friends. They had talked about some really serious, deep stuff. But keeping his whole acting career from her was a deal breaker for Adelaide, so she would just have to look past it.

It was somewhat calming, watching planes land and take off. It wouldn’t be long now until her flight was called. Which she was both glad of and dreading. Watching the sunset over New York City and the constant dull roar of jet engines and murmurs of people waiting, it was easy for Adelaide to zone out, so when she thought she heard someone calling out to her, she wasn’t sure she was actually hearing it. She looked around her, but there was no one looking in her direction, or anyone she even recognised. She went back inside her head, once again waiting for her flight.

She just about jumped out of her skin and wet her pants when someone put their hands in front of her face. She paled when she realised who it was.

He would wait right until she was about to leave the country to try talking to her.

And he would most certainly get clearance to roam through an international airport while not actually travelling anywhere.

Curse words ran through her head as she tried to figure out how to go about this situation. She did not want to see Dylan. She wanted to see Dylan hurt. She wanted to slap Dylan. She wanted to go home. She wanted Dylan to apologise. She wanted Dylan.

Adelaide made her face a mask void of emotion, sorting through the inside and waiting for Dylan to make the first move. She carefully surveyed him; his hands and lip were trembling slightly, and his breathing was quite shallow. He’s nervous, she realised.

“Adelaide, I… I, I um… I” Dylan stumbled, his thoughts not collected.

“What?” Adelaide didn’t really mean for it to come out so harshly, but she really didn’t need this.  All she wanted was Dylan to not be in her picture. She did not want to talk or see him or even hear of him ever again. However this clearly wasn’t going to happen because he was standing right in front of her with trembling hands and floundering for the right words to say.

She looked at him impatiently, summing up her options. Or really, looking for ways out of the situation. “Look Dylan,” she started. Looking back down at his hands. She couldn’t bear to see his face when she undoubtedly crushed him. “I don’t care. I don’t want anything to do with you. I had thought I’d made that pretty clear. You keep secrets. Like about your whole life. Well, a very relevant part of your life and I'm not ready to forgive that yet alright? I just need to go and sort my life out and not get tangled up in whatever this might have been. So good bye Dylan.”

Adelaide lent down to pick up her bag and hide in the ladies room until her flight was called. But Dylan grabbed her arm, surprising her. “I know you’re lying,” he said blankly. His eyes were shiny, but he wasn’t really crying. “How?” she question, more surprised than ever.

“Because you have to be. I’ve been talking to you for years. Maybe I don’t know your tell, but I know you’re lying. You’re not that mean and blunt.” He started sniffling at the end. She couldn’t be telling the truth. She didn’t feel that way. No. this was the girl who he’d stayed up all night for, talking about everything. From favourite foods to break ups, and even on her worst days, she had never sounded like that to anyone.

“So what if I am?” she challenged. Somewhere deep inside of her, she wanted him to figure it out. She wanted him to figure her out.

He didn’t think. It wasn’t something he would do if he thought about it. He just went for it. He was still holding onto her arm, and he pulled her in toward him. She realised what was happening, but she didn’t stop it. Maybe he was going to try and work her out.

The kiss was gentle and soft and everything it needed to be. Adelaide let her eyes fall closed, and kept them that way until well after the kiss had finished. “Adelaide, please look at me,” Dylan said, hardly more than a whisper. She was cautious. Looking into his eyes was almost like drowning. She felt like she couldn’t breathe or catch onto anything that would keep her afloat.

“I'm so sorry. For everything that I’ve done to hurt you, and everything I may do. You are the best thing in my life. You keep me sane. You keep me happy. I would have broken down by now if you hadn’t of sent that message that night. Maybe it was accidental maybe it was fate, I don’t know. But I do know that from the first time I laid eyes upon you, I couldn’t think straight. And ever since then I’ve been so worried sick that I messed up what could’ve been the best thing in my life.” His forehead was resting against hers, and the tears that were occasionally dripping from his eyes were running down both their cheeks. “I don’t think I could live without you. At least not in a way that means anything.”

And then, in the worst timing possible, her flight was called. Her heart and head were a mess of emotions, so with a small smile and a nod, she picked up her bags and said “I need to go. Thank you, Dylan.” She turned on her heal and walked down to the boarding gate. Not looking back except for a glimpse at Dylan before she disappeared down the tunnel. He was still standing there, a mixture of shock and sadness colouring his features. For a moment she felt bad for the way she left, and she would certainly regret it later, but she was so amazed by what he had just said that she couldn’t get past it, not yet at least.

She couldn’t wait to get back home and talk to her mum or her best friend about it. Really she just couldn’t wait to curl up with her cat and sleep.


	9. epilogue

Dear Dylan   
There are some things I want to tell you, but I didn't think it right to tell them over the phone or text. So I'm writing you a letter. It's old fashioned and maybe a little bit romantic, but whatever. I would tell you in person however the Atlantic Ocean separates us and makes it a little difficult. Plus it's likely if I tried to speak these words out loud, not a sound would pass through my lips.   
Ever since I left you at the airport, you're all I think about. I feel so totally and utterly stupid for leaving like that. Saying anything other than what I said would be so much better. But I am sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like I was totally blowing you off. What you said, it made all the difference.   
You really cut it close you know. I was so annoyed and cranky and upset and my emotions were all over the place, but somehow you managed to put them in the right space. And a small part of me totally hates that. Hates that you kissed me the way you did. Hates that you pulled me under your spell with those words. Hates how I feel like I could get lost in your eyes. Hates the way you make me feel.   
And if I'm totally honest I don't think that will ever go away. Part of me will always be so annoyed with you. So pissed off that you make me want to scream.   
But then there's this other part, which I like so much more. The part that is in love with you. So totally and completely in love it actually scares me a little bit.   
And I'm sorry I haven't talked to you since the airport. Haven't replied to a single message of yours. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I needed to get this all out. Maybe it's because talking to you isn't worth it unless I can see your face. The way it lights up when you see me and the way your eyes sparkle when you tell a joke. I know, because it makes me do the same.   
I guess the point now that we've gotten this far is to say that Dylan, I think I might love you. It's a little bit crazy, but more than likely a little bit true. Just like you said to me, you're the best thing that's happened to me. You've been there for me whenever I needed you (question, how did you manage this with your work? You're like, incredibly committed to me, obviously) which was probably more often than the average friendship and I am so grateful for it you don't understand. When I look into your eyes, I feel like I'm drowning. And not in a bad way. They make me feel at peace. And I want to continue feeling that.   
So, Dylan O'Brien, I accept your apology and I hope you accept mine.   
Love, Adelaide.


End file.
